Subiectul 1100 puncte

Read the following text.

1.Summarise
it in 50-60 words.

2.Explain
the function of the title of the story in relation to Jerome’s last question” What happened to the pig?” Answer in about
200 words.

A Shocking Accident

Jerome was called into his housemaster's room in the break
between the second and the third class on a Tuesday morning. He had no fear of
trouble, for he was a warden - the name that the proprietor and headmaster of a
rather expensive preparatory school had chosen to give to approved, reliable
boys in the lower forms (from a warden one became a guardian and finally before
leaving, it was hoped for Marlborough or Rugby, a crusader). The housemaster, Mr Wordsworth, sat
behind his desk with an appearance of perplexity and apprehension. Jerome had
the odd impression when he entered that he was a cause of fear.

'I've had a telephone call, Jerome. From
your aunt. I'm afraid I have bad news for you.'

'Yes, sir?'

'Your father has had an accident.'

'Oh.'

Mr Wordsworth looked at him with some surprise. 'A serious accident.'

'Yes, sir?'

Jerome worshipped his father: the verb is exact. As man
re-creates God, so Jerome re-created his father - from a restless widowed
author into a mysterious adventurer who travelled in far places - Nice, Beirut, Majorca, even the
Canaries. The time had arrived about his eighth birthday when Jerome believed
that his father either 'ran guns' or was a member of the British Secret
Service. Now it occurred to him that his father might have been wounded in 'a
hail of machine-gun bullets'.

Mr Wordsworth played with the ruler on his desk. He seemed
at a loss how to continue. He said, 'You know your father was in Naples?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Your aunt heard from the hospital today.'

'Oh.'

Mr Wordsworth said with desperation, 'It was a street accident.'

'Yes, sir?' It seemed quite likely
to Jerome that they would call it a street accident. The police of course fired
first; his father would not take human life except as a last resort.

'I'm afraid your father was very seriously hurt indeed.'

'Oh.'

'In fact, Jerome, he died yesterday. Quite
without pain.'

'Did they shoot him through the heart?'

'I beg your pardon. What did you say, Jerome?'

'Did they shoot him through the heart?'

'Nobody shot him, Jerome. A pig fell on him.' An
inexplicable convulsion took place in the nerves of Mr Wordsworth's face; it
really looked for a moment as though he were going to laugh. He closed his
eyes, composed his features and said rapidly as though it were necessary to
expel the story as rapidly as possible. 'Your father was walking along a street
in Naples when
a pig fell on him. A shocking accident. Apparently in
the poorer quarters of Naples
they keep pigs on their balconies. This one was on the fifth floor. It had
grown too fat. The balcony broke. The pig fell on your father.'

Mr Wordsworth left his desk rapidly and went to the window,
turning his back on Jerome. He shook a little with emotion.

Jerome said, 'What happened to the pig?'

Subiectul 2.100 puncte

Superman has been a comic strip character for over
sixty years. He can fly, is super strong, has x-ray vision, and has super
hearing. Imagine that you wake up one morning and find that you are a
super hero or heroine and have one of Superman's powers to use for a
day. Write about your adventurous
day with this superpower in about 250 words.

As
you plan your writing, you might like to think about the following ideas: